Dodgers Lost in a Fog, Lose Again to Montreal

For whatever reason, the Dodgers don’t play well under the dome of Olympic Stadium. The last time they won a game here was in May, and Kevin Gross pitched a shutout to get that victory.

Even with Darryl Strawberry’s two-run homer into the left-field pavilion Wednesday night providing a 2-0 lead in the first inning, the Dodgers could manage only two hits the rest of the game and lost to the Montreal Expos, 6-4.

Eric Davis, offering this explanation, says the Dodgers are “Dome-itized.”

“It’s like we are hitting in a fog--we should have played outside in the rain or something,” Davis said. “The ball is supposed to be white, but it looked gray. It was (elusive). In this place, it’s hard to see the ball. Look at some of the swings we had. We weren’t swinging like we could see the ball.”

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda put it this way: “They’re swinging about as well as I am.”

For the crowd of 11,194 that braved the incessant rain and disregarded a forecast of snow to see their charging Expos, the game had its moments, but most of them came during the first three innings. The Expos, who have won five of their last six games, tied the score in the first inning and added another two runs in the second to take the lead.

Brett Butler manufactured a run in the fifth inning when he walked, stole second base, went to third when Delino DeShields couldn’t handle Darrin Fletcher’s throw at second and scored on a groundout. That pulled the Dodgers to within 5-4.

But after that, about the most exciting thing that happened on the Dodger side came when the Expos’ mascot danced to “Blue Suede Shoes” on top of their dugout with a partner wearing a Dodger jacket. The highlight, or perhaps the harbinger, came when the mascot twirled out of control and tumbled over a rail, landing on his back in front of the Dodger players.

Dodger starter Pedro Astacio (0-2) didn’t last long enough to see the entertainment. The only inning Astacio didn’t struggle in was the fourth, but by then he had given up five runs and five hits. He was lifted in the fifth, when pinch-hitter Cory Snyder flied out.

“We had to get some runs,” said Lasorda, echoing an oft-heard cry this season.

The Dodgers’ contributed to the Expos’ offensive output with a couple of blunders in the field, including a throwing error by Lenny Harris that allowed Fletcher to score the Expos’ fifth run. Harris, who started at third base in place of Tim Wallach, made a great stop of a grounder before throwing the ball away.

Against Expo starter Jimmy Jones, the Dodgers scored four runs. Left-hander Brian Barnes came on in the seventh and retired the Dodgers in order the rest of the way.

“The players certainly are giving it everything they got, but they are just not doing it,” Lasorda said. “Look (in the clubhouse) and see how they feel and you will find the answer.”

With few exceptions, the postgame clubhouse was about as solemn as a losing streak brings in August. Davis was one of the exceptions.

Sitting in front of his locker in a corner of the clubhouse, Davis elaborated on the “dome-itization” process that overtakes his team in Olympic Stadium, where the Dodgers record is 2-17 in the ‘90s.

“It’s not this way in Houston (at the Astrodome),” he said. “Houston has light at the top and you can see better. Here you walk out and it’s so open, it’s like Death Valley. Maybe we need X-ray vision glasses. Maybe that would help.”

Strawberry, who sat out Tuesday’s game because of a stiff lower back, said he had no discomfort Wednesday. After Mike Piazza walked in the first inning, Strawberry hit Jones’ first pitch--a fastball away--over the left-field wall for his third home run.

“There is no question they pitched well, their bullpen did an outstanding job the last two games and you have to give credit where credit is due,” Strawberry said. “We just have to get on track and get moving.”

The Dodger bullpen also did well, with Martinez pitching two scoreless innings and Roger McDowell pitching out of a jam in the eighth, giving up one run.

Strawberry said he liked to play at Olympic Stadium when he was with the New York Mets, but “since I have been (with the Dodgers), playing here hasn’t been too successful,” he said. “You have to try and win, but we haven’t been able to do that.”